France’s SNCF train company told it must not ask passengers’ gender
European courts rule information is not required when buying a ticket
There is currently no set date for when changes to the process will come into effect
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France’s national rail operator SNCF should stop asking passengers to fill out information concerning their gender when purchasing a ticket online, a new ruling from the European Court of Justice states.
The information – currently mandatory when buying a ticket on the SNCFConnect app or online website – ‘is not objectively indispensable’ the court said in a ruling yesterday (January 9).
“The gender identity of a passenger is not a necessity to purchase a ticket,” the court concluded.
A ruling on the matter by the European courts had been requested by the French Conseil d’Etat (Council of State) after it was asked for legal advice on a national matter.
The lawyer representing the pro-LGBT+ rights group which initially filed a complaint against the SNCF in a domestic French court welcomed the ruling as “a landmark decision recognising the rights of sexual and gender minorities,” in both France and Europe.
The ruling is advisory and not mandatory, however, and it is for the national Conseil d’Etat to make a final decision.
The French court is widely expected to side with the European ruling and ask the SNCF to modify its method in due course.
Gender information requirement is ‘outdated’
The French association, Mousse, had originally filed a case against the SNCF over the requirement, saying it was outdated.
France’s Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertés (CNIL) rejected the claim, so the group turned to the Conseil d’Etat, which passed it onto the European courts.
Specifically, the European Court of Justice said the SNCF should apply rules of ‘data minimisation’, and not collect information that was not absolutely necessary to the purchasing of a ticket.
It said the rail operator is able to put in place a system that uses ”generic, inclusive greetings that are not correlated with customers’ presumed gender identity” without compromising the sale of tickets.
This would also be “less intrusive” for those who identify as a sexual or gender minority, the court added.
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Paves the way for further rulings
The mere requirement to supply this information when purchasing a ticket “contributes to a feeling of exclusion’ for intersex and non-binary people,” said Étienne Deshoulières, the lawyer representing Mousse, in a press release.
The positive result “paves the way for [further changes] bringing major advances for the rights of LGBT+ people in the European Union,” he added.
Read more: Who can I complain to about discrimination in France?
